De Blasio Unveils Revamped Daily NYC Coronavirus Indicators

NEW YORK CITY — The coronavirus indicators that give a daily snapshot of the pandemic in the city will be yet again revamped amid a virus resurgence, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

De Blasio on Monday unveiled the retooled indicators, which will add new data on hospitalizations and testing.

"The idea is to constantly update these indicators so they can help you understand what's going on and what you need to do and how you can be a part of fighting back this second wave," he said.

It's not the first time the city changed how it reports coronavirus cases on a daily basis.

But this time eliminates one previously prominent measurement — the city's single-day positivity rate.

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De Blasio said it became less "pertinent" as more tests are conducted. He said the city's seven-day rolling average positivity is a better measurement.

As of Monday, that average stood at 4.98 percent — just a hair below a 5 percent threshold for the city.

That threshold was once set at 3 percent and triggered an automatic closure of public schools. But city officials changed it as the virus made a resurgence across the city, state and country.

Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi said the changing situation required updated daily indicators.

He said in addition to eliminating the daily positivity rate that the indicators now will include "probable" new cases and hospitalizations per 100,000 residents.

Cases detected by the now-common antigen coronavirus tests will be counted as "probable" because they still aren't as accurate as PCR tests, Chokshi said.

The city had 2,180 new coronavirus cases, of which 616 were counted as "probable," according to the new indicator.

The current hospitalization rate is 2.28 per 100,000 residents over a seven-day average, de Blasio said. The city's goal is to be under 2, he said.